Regardless of these questions, it's clear that Barakat had
unparalleled access and took excellent pictures. With a
brother in a local rebel brigade, he was routinely in the thick of rebel
battles. He even identified asa participant in the revolution, as opposed
to an impartial observer.

Many of the soldiers he photographed were even younger than him,
some as young as 11. What they all shared was an unusual
childhood, shadowed by an terrible and brutal war.

Barakat's pictures have appeared in publications all over the
world. We've collected some of his most powerful work.

Some of these images are very graphic.

Mohammed, a 13-year-old fighter in the Free Syrian Army aims his
weapon as he runs from snipers loyal to the Assad regime in
Aleppo. He joined the rebels after his father died in the war.
The gun is his father’s.REUTERS/Molhem Barakat

Mohammad aims his weapon through a hole in a wall in Aleppo's
Bustan al-Basha district.REUTERS/Molhem Barakat

A Free Syrian Army tank fires a shell at forces loyal to
Assad.REUTERS/Molhem Barakat

A rebel fighter in the Tawhid Brigade prepares homemade rockets
to fire at 80th Brigade Base, strategic military target that has
gone back and forth between rebels and Assad's
forces.REUTERS/Molhem Barakat

A rebel fighter launches a projectile 80th Brigade Base.

REUTERS/Molhem Barakat

Aleppo residents struggle to put out a fire caused by shelling
from Assad's forces.REUTERS/Molhem Barakat